Hindi Varnamala

Complete Hindi varnamala chart with all 46 letters per Government of India standard. Swar, vyanjan, sanyukt akshar, special signs and numerals with examples and tap-to-hear audio.

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How many letters in Hindi varnamala?

Both 52 letters (traditional vyakaran) and 46 letters (Government of India standard) are correct; they count different things. Traditional grammar adds 4 sanyukt akshar (क्ष त्र ज्ञ श्र) and counts anuswar (अं) and visarg (अः) as separate swar. The Government count, published by the Central Hindi Directorate, recognises 11 swar plus 35 vyanjan only. NCERT Class 1 Rimjhim uses a simplified 44 letters (drops ड़ ढ़). All four valid counts are explained in the Quick Facts below.

Quick Facts

NCERT Class 144
11 swar + 33 vyanjanNCERT Class 1 Rimjhim simplified set used in primary schooling. Drops the nukta-derived ड़ ढ़ from the consonant list.
Govt of India46
11 swar + 35 vyanjanGovernment of India standard per the Central Hindi Directorate. 11 swar plus 35 vyanjan (which includes the nukta-derived ड़ ढ़).
Pan-Devanagari script48
11 swar + 35 vyanjan + 2 Sanskrit-only swar (ॠ ऌ)Pan-Devanagari script-wide reference count. 11 base swar plus 35 vyanjan plus 2 Sanskrit-only swar (ॠ ऌ) = 48. Counts vary across references depending on which Sanskrit-extended characters are included; this codebase pins the (ॠ ऌ) pair. Listed for completeness; not a Hindi standard.
Traditional vyakaran52
13 swar + 35 vyanjan + 4 sanyukt akshar (क्ष त्र ज्ञ श्र)Traditional vyakaran (Hindi grammar) count. 13 swar (the 11 base swar plus anuswar अं and visarg अः treated as swar in classical vyakaran) plus 35 vyanjan plus 4 sanyukt akshar = 52.
Number of swar (vowels)
11
Number of vyanjan (consonants)
35
Sanyukt akshar (compound)
4 (क्ष त्र ज्ञ श्र)
Special signs
3 (ं ः ँ)
Numerals (ank)
10 (० to ९)
Script
देवनागरी (Devanagari)

Primary source: Central Hindi Directorate (केंद्रीय हिंदी निदेशालय), Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India. देवनागरी लिपि तथा हिंदी वर्तनी का मानकीकरण (periodically revised; latest editions 1967, 1983, 1989).

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स्वर (Swar) 11 vowels

व्यंजन (Vyanjan) 35 consonants

क-वर्ग / Velars (ka-varga)

च-वर्ग / Palatals (cha-varga)

ट-वर्ग / Retroflexes (ta-varga)

त-वर्ग / Dentals (ta-varga)

प-वर्ग / Labials (pa-varga)

अंतस्थ / Semi-vowels (antastha)

ऊष्म / Sibilants (ushma)

द्वि-व्यंजन / Nukta-derived flap consonants

संयुक्त अक्षर (Sanyukt Akshar) 4 compound consonants

Compound consonants formed by joining two base consonants without a vowel between them. They are counted in the traditional 52-letter varnamala but not in the official 46-letter Government count, since they are derived combinations rather than independent letters.

Special Signs

अंṁ

अनुस्वार (anuswar)

Nasal sound, e.g. हंस (hans / swan).

अःḥ

विसर्ग (visarg)

Aspirated breath sound, e.g. नमः (namah).

अँ~

चंद्रबिंदु (chandrabindu)

Marks vowel nasalisation. The vowel itself is pronounced through the nose, e.g. हँसना (hansna, to laugh) where अ becomes nasalised ã.

संख्या (Numerals) 0 to 9

०0shoonya
१1ek
२2do
३3teen
४4chaar
५5paanch
६6che
७7saat
८8aath
९9nau

Class-by-class learning order

  • LKG / Nursery (age 3-4): 11 swar (अ to औ).
  • UKG (age 4-5): 11 swar + first 15 vyanjan (क-न across the first three varga).
  • Class 1 (age 5-6): All 35 vyanjan + 4 sanyukt akshar + 3 special signs.
  • Class 2 (age 6-7): Matras (vowel diacritics) and how they attach to consonants.
  • Class 3 onwards: Word formation (shabd vichaar), grammar rules, varga theory.
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TL;DR

Hindi varnamala has 52 letters in the traditional vyakaran count and 46 letters in the Government of India standard published by the Central Hindi Directorate. Both are correct; they count different things. The 46 count is 11 swar (vowels) plus 35 vyanjan (consonants). The 52 count adds 4 sanyukt akshar (compound consonants like क्ष त्र ज्ञ श्र) and counts anuswar (अं) plus visarg (अः) as separate swar. NCERT Class 1 Rimjhim uses a simplified 44 letters (drops ड़ ढ़). This page lists every letter with examples in Indian context (आम, कमल, हाथी), tap-to-hear pronunciation via your device's Hindi voice (where available), and a one-tap browser print option for classroom or home use.

Why letter counts differ across textbooks (the 44 vs 46 vs 52 question)

The differing counts come from what is being counted, not from any error. Hindi's alphabet is layered. The base is 11 swar (अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ए ऐ ओ औ) and 33 traditional vyanjan organised in five varga (groups by where the sound is produced in the mouth). Two retroflex flap letters ड़ and ढ़, formed by adding a nukta (dot below) to ड and ढ, were added in modern Hindi to capture sounds borrowed from Persian, Arabic, and Punjabi. With these two included, vyanjan count reaches 35 and the official Government count is 46. Traditional vyakaran reaches 52 by counting anuswar (अं) and visarg (अः) as swar (raising swar from 11 to 13) and adding 4 sanyukt akshar (क्ष त्र ज्ञ श्र) on top of the 35 vyanjan. NCERT Class 1 simplifies for early learners by dropping ड़ and ढ़, giving 44.

For school exams, follow whatever count your textbook uses. For Hindi competitive exams, government forms, or any official context, the 46-letter Government standard is the safest answer because it is the version published in the Central Hindi Directorate's standardisation document and adopted across MoE publications. The 52-letter count is what most adults remember from school, especially anyone schooled outside the strictly NCERT track.

Varga-based ordering: why the alphabet runs क च ट त प

Hindi varnamala order is one of the oldest still-in-use alphabet orderings, going back to ancient Sanskrit phonetic analysis associated with Panini (around 4th century BCE). Unlike English, which inherited an arbitrary Phoenician sequence, Devanagari letters are sorted by where each sound is produced in the mouth, moving from the throat to the lips:

  • क-वर्ग (velars): क ख ग घ ङ - sound made at the back of the mouth (soft palate)
  • च-वर्ग (palatals): च छ ज झ ञ - tongue against the hard palate
  • ट-वर्ग (retroflexes): ट ठ ड ढ ण - tongue tip curled back to touch the palate
  • त-वर्ग (dentals): त थ द ध न - tongue tip touches the back of the upper teeth
  • प-वर्ग (labials): प फ ब भ म - sound made with the lips
  • अंतस्थ (semi-vowels): य र ल व - between vowel and consonant
  • ऊष्म (sibilants and aspirate): श ष स ह - friction-based sounds
  • द्वि-व्यंजन (nukta-derived flaps): ड़ ढ़ - retroflex flap, added in modern Hindi via the nukta diacritic

Within each varga, the 5 consonants follow the same pattern: unaspirated voiceless, aspirated voiceless, unaspirated voiced, aspirated voiced, nasal. This is why ख sits between क and ग - the order encodes phonetic structure, not historical accident.

Class-by-class learning sequence (LKG to Class 3)

Hindi-medium and CBSE schools typically introduce varnamala in this order:

  • LKG / Nursery (age 3-4): Recognition of the 11 swar. Children learn each vowel paired with one or two example words (अ for अनार, आ for आम).
  • UKG (age 4-5): Swar plus the first 15 vyanjan, covering the first three varga. This is the foundation for reading simple two-letter words.
  • Class 1 (age 5-6): All 35 vyanjan, the 4 main sanyukt akshar (क्ष त्र ज्ञ श्र), and the 3 special signs (anuswar, visarg, chandrabindu). NCERT Rimjhim Class 1 textbook covers this sequence.
  • Class 2 (age 6-7): Matras (vowel diacritics). Students learn how each vowel changes the inherent "a" sound of a consonant: क + ि = कि, क + ी = की.
  • Class 3 onwards: Word formation (shabd vichaar), basic grammar rules, and varga theory.

Sources & References

All letter examples chosen for Indian cultural context (आम, कमल, हाथी, गाय). Audio playback uses your device's built-in Hindi voice (Web Speech API). On iOS Safari, a Hindi voice may need to be downloaded via Settings before audio works. No audio files are hosted on this site.

Last reviewed against the Central Hindi Directorate's "Devanagari Lipi tatha Hindi Vartani ka Manakikaran" landing page and NCERT Rimjhim Class 1 textbook on 2026-05-04. The 46-letter Government count and 52-letter traditional vyakaran count are pinned by unit tests in __tests__/lib/varnamala-data.test.ts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many letters are there in Hindi varnamala?+
There are two widely accepted answers and both are correct; they just count different things. Traditional Hindi grammar (vyakaran) teaches 52 letters: 13 swar (the 11 base swar अ-औ plus anuswar अं and visarg अः counted as swar), 35 vyanjan (consonants), and 4 sanyukt akshar (compound consonants like क्ष त्र ज्ञ श्र). The Government of India's official standardisation, published by the Central Hindi Directorate (केंद्रीय हिंदी निदेशालय) under the Ministry of Education, recognises 46 letters: 11 swar plus 35 vyanjan. The 46-count excludes compound consonants because they are formed by combining base letters, not separate units. NCERT's Class 1 Rimjhim textbook uses a simplified 44-letter set (11 swar + 33 vyanjan, dropping the nukta-derived ड़ ढ़) for early learners.
What is swar and vyanjan in Hindi?+
Swar (स्वर) means vowel and vyanjan (व्यंजन) means consonant. The basic difference is that a swar can be pronounced on its own without help, while a vyanjan needs a swar to complete its sound. Hindi has 11 swar in the official Government set: अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ए ऐ ओ औ. Each consonant carries an inherent 'a' sound by default, which is why क is read as 'ka' rather than just 'k'. Matras (vowel diacritics) are written above, below, or beside a consonant to change that inherent vowel, for example क + ि becomes कि (ki) and क + ी becomes की (kee).
How many swar are there in Hindi?+
The Government of India standard recognises 11 swar: अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ए ऐ ओ औ. Traditional vyakaran adds anuswar (अं) and visarg (अः), counting them alongside swar to reach 13. The 11-swar count is the most widely taught and is the version used in NCERT textbooks and Central Hindi Directorate publications. The traditional 13-swar count is what underpins the 52-letter classical total.
How many vyanjan are there in Hindi?+
The official Hindi vyanjan list has 35 letters in the Government of India standard. These are organised into traditional varga (groups based on where the sound is produced in the mouth): ka-varga (क ख ग घ ङ), cha-varga (च छ ज झ ञ), retroflex ta-varga (ट ठ ड ढ ण), dental ta-varga (त थ द ध न), pa-varga (प फ ब भ म), antastha or semi-vowels (य र ल व), ushma or sibilants (श ष स ह), and two nukta-derived flap letters (ड़ ढ़). Without ड़ ढ़, the count drops to 33 vyanjan, which is the version NCERT Class 1 uses.
What are sanyukt akshar in Hindi varnamala?+
Sanyukt akshar (संयुक्त अक्षर) means compound consonants. They are formed by joining two consonants without a vowel sound between them, where the first consonant takes a halant or appears in its half-form. The four most common sanyukt akshar in standard Hindi are क्ष (ksha, as in क्षत्रिय), त्र (tra, as in त्रिशूल), ज्ञ (gya, as in विज्ञान), and श्र (shra, as in श्रवण). They are counted in the traditional 52-letter varnamala but not in the official 46-letter Government count, because they are derived from base consonants rather than being independent letters.
What is anuswar, visarg, and chandrabindu?+
These are three diacritical marks added to vowels to modify their sound. Anuswar (ं) gives a nasal stop sound, used in words like हंस (hans, swan) and रंग (rang, colour). Visarg (ः) marks an aspirated breath sound carried over from Sanskrit, used in formal greetings like नमः and दुःख. Chandrabindu (ँ) marks vowel nasalisation, used in words like हँसना (hansna, to laugh) and चाँद (chand, moon) where the vowel itself is pronounced through the nose. Anuswar and chandrabindu sit above the script line; visarg sits at the same level as the letter.
What is matra in Hindi?+
Matra (मात्रा) means a vowel diacritic, the symbol attached to a consonant to change its vowel sound from the default 'a'. Each of the 10 vowels other than अ has a matra form: आ uses ा (कमल to काम), इ uses ि (कि), ई uses ी (की), उ uses ु (कु), ऊ uses ू (कू), ऋ uses ृ (कृ), ए uses े (के), ऐ uses ै (कै), ओ uses ो (को), औ uses ौ (कौ). Children typically learn matras in Class 1 or Class 2 after they have memorised the basic varnamala. The vowel अ has no matra because it is the default sound built into every consonant.
Why do different sources give different letter counts for Hindi varnamala?+
The discrepancy comes from what is being counted. Counts of 44, 46, 48, and 52 are all valid depending on the classification: 44 is NCERT's simplified primary-school set (11 swar + 33 vyanjan, drops ड़ ढ़); 46 is the Government of India official standard (11 swar + 35 vyanjan); 48 is the pan-Devanagari script-wide reference including Sanskrit-only ॠ ऌ; 52 is the traditional vyakaran count, which counts anuswar and visarg as swar (11 + 2 = 13 swar) and adds 4 sanyukt akshar to the 35 vyanjan base. None of these are wrong; they answer different questions. For school exams, follow whatever count your textbook uses; for official forms or competitive exams, the 46 Government standard is safest.
What is the order of Hindi varnamala?+
The traditional order follows ancient Sanskrit phonetic principles. Swar come first in this sequence: अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ए ऐ ओ औ, sometimes followed by anuswar अं and visarg अः. Vyanjan are then organised into 5 varga based on where the sound originates in the mouth, moving from the back of the mouth to the front: velars (क ख ग घ ङ), palatals (च छ ज झ ञ), retroflexes (ट ठ ड ढ ण), dentals (त थ द ध न), labials (प फ ब भ म). After the 5 varga come the antastha or semi-vowels (य र ल व), then ushma or sibilants (श ष स ह), and finally the nukta-derived ड़ and ढ़. This phonetic ordering is associated with Panini's Sanskrit grammar and is one of the oldest writing-system orderings still in active use.
What is the difference between Hindi varnamala and Sanskrit varnamala?+
Sanskrit and Hindi share the Devanagari script but their alphabets differ in coverage. Sanskrit has additional vowels like ॠ (long ri) and ऌ (vocalic l) that are rarely used in modern Hindi. Sanskrit also includes a few additional sounds and treats anuswar, visarg, and chandrabindu more strictly as part of the alphabet. Hindi adds two letters (ड़ ढ़) that do not exist in Sanskrit, formed by adding a nukta (dot below) to ड and ढ to capture sounds borrowed from Persian, Arabic, and Punjabi. So Sanskrit varnamala typically has more vowels and Hindi varnamala has more consonants in the borrowed-sounds family.
How is Hindi alphabet different from English alphabet?+
Three big differences. First, structure: Hindi is an abugida, where every consonant carries an inherent vowel and matras change that vowel; English is a true alphabet, where vowels and consonants are independent letters written separately. Second, ordering: Hindi varnamala is grouped by where sounds are produced in the mouth (velars, palatals, retroflexes, dentals, labials), while English follows a Phoenician-derived sequence with no phonetic logic. Third, script features: Devanagari uses a horizontal line called shirorekha (शिरोरेखा) at the top of letters to bind them visually into words; English uses spaces and capitalisation. Hindi also has sanyukt akshar (compound consonants like क्ष त्र ज्ञ) where two consonants combine into a single ligature glyph, which English handles differently with simple letter sequences.
How do I teach my 4-year-old Hindi varnamala?+
Start with the 11 swar (अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ए ऐ ओ औ) and pair each one with a single example word and image (अ for अनार, आ for आम, इ for इमली). Spend about a week per group of three vowels before moving on; a 4-year-old's working memory cannot absorb all 11 at once. Use the tap-to-hear feature on this page so the child hears native pronunciation, not English-accented Hindi. After the swar are recognised reliably (read aloud out of order), move to the first 10-15 vyanjan grouped by varga (क-न). Save matras (वारणा-vowel diacritics) for after age 5 once the base alphabet is solid.
What activities help kids memorise vyanjan?+
Three activities work well in Indian primary classrooms. First, varga-card sorting: print the 35 vyanjan on cards and have the child group them by varga (velars, palatals, etc.); the physical sorting builds the phonetic intuition behind the order. Second, picture matching: use the example-word column on this page (क-कमल, ख-खरगोश, ग-गाय) to play 'find the letter for this picture'. Third, daily 5-minute audio drills: tap a random letter on this chart and have the child name it before the audio plays. Avoid rote song-style memorisation past LKG; it teaches the sequence but not the individual letter recognition that Class 1 textbooks rely on.
Where can I print a free Hindi varnamala chart?+
Use the Print this chart button at the top of the chart on this page. The browser opens a print preview that includes all 11 swar, 35 vyanjan organised by traditional varga, the 4 main sanyukt akshar, special signs (anuswar, visarg, chandrabindu), and the 10 Devanagari numerals. It is laid out for A4 portrait printing, classroom display, and home study with kids. No signup, no download, no watermark.